Kothet's Story, A dremora in Skyrim, and his housecarl. Options

[Acadian]

’I didn't think that was a good idea.’ - - Eeep! Me either!
Sure enough, Silus chose poorly.

I was worried when Silentia the Housecarl disappeared.

Woot! She’s back, in naked, speaking glory. And she knows how to use both. So the long mystery of Kothet's housecarl has been solved and, you know what? They do make a great couple.

Oh. . . and now he can ask her name. . . .

[Renee]

That part did seem sort of like a test, a trick from Mehrunes Dagon. Kinda neat how Kothet knows some of these tricks, because of his background.

[ghastley]

Acadian: We solved the mystery of the "no talking to Kothet" part, anyway. There's more to work out.

Renee: If he doesn't know Dagon better than mortals do by now ...

-------------

Previously - The housecarl speaks, Kothet is speechless. Fade to black.

-------------

20 - High Hrothgar

"Wait a moment," I said. "You mentioned talking to someone called 'Prizna', and it sounded like you were talking about a woman who used to belong to me. Does she have her own name now? I've got used to the mortals naming their women, but she was Dremora."

"Yes, didn't you know? Oh, no, I suppose you haven't been back to the Deadlands since all of that happened, have you? Of course it was a mortal that gave it to her, and she needed it because she was going to be living in Tamriel, where all the women have names."

"You'll be living in Tamriel, too, if I'm still stuck here. Did Dagon say if my exile is over?"

She shook her head. "No, he didn't tell me anything about that. I think he wants you to work that out for yourself. Maybe you have the choice of staying here or going back."

"And of course, I don't know Dagon's terms for my return, so I have no way of knowing if I want to do so. If it meant losing you, I wouldn't want it." I thought for a while. "And if I'm staying here, you'll need a name, won't you? Do you already have one?"

"No, and Dagon didn't say anything about one. Does that mean he doesn't expect me to stay here?"

"No, just that he wasn't telling you something that we have to work out for ourselves. I think you need a name, so we should choose one."

"I'm glad you said we should do it together. You've been here among the Nords long enough that you'd give me one of theirs. You know the kind I mean. Like Uthgerd the Unbroken, except that I'd probably end up as Jane the Jiggly, or something rude like that."

"Well, if I called you something as common as Jane, they'd have to explain which Jane they meant, and they'd add on whatever's memorable about you. But you need a proper Dremora name, which will avoid that problem."

"But there aren't any Dremora names for women," she reasonably pointed out.

"There are words in the ancient tongues that might be suitable," I countered. "What about 'Zahra', which means flower, or beautiful like a flower? Then you've got a name, and it already describes you."

She seemed to like that one, and I perhaps shouldn't have spoiled the mood by musing further. "Soft pink petals, overflowing with nectar ... why are you hitting me like that?"

---

This was the last thing I'd been waiting for: now I had my Daedric Armour, and she had a name, I could go and introduce us to the Greybeards. Of course, she wanted to know what she should wear. She didn't have any Daedric Armour, and we didn't have the materials to make her any.

"You're a mage, so wear mage clothes. Do you have something a bit more formal than your usual outfit?"

"You think that might be a bit too much for a bunch of old men?"

"Too little, maybe?"

She cast a small spell, and a black silk robe, trimmed in red, appeared around her. It covered her completely, but clung close to her curves.

"Is that warm enough for the top of a snow-covered mountain?"

"Of course. It's enchanted with frost resistance. They'll see that it's thin, and be able to work that out for themselves."

---

"And so, a Dragonborn appears at this moment in the turning of the age. I am Master Arngeir; I speak for the Greybeards."

"You call me Dragonborn, but how can a Kynaz, who was never born, be one?"

"Because that word is but a poor translation of 'Dovahkiin'. The Nords aquire their kinship through birth, which is why they use that term. Kin, Kyn, kiin - it is all the same word. You have a familial connection to the dragons, the same as you do to other Dremora."

"But what does that mean?"

"One aspect is that you learn the dragon language more easily than others. You have already learned 'Fus' and probably more. Let us taste of your voice."

I assumed that the old man knew what he was doing. I shouted "Fus" in his direction, and he staggered backward.

"It is true, then. You do have the power of the Voice. But it needs to be trained, if you would reach your full potential, and fulfill your destiny."

"What is my destiny?" I asked.

"That is for you to discover. We can show you the way, but not the destination. Master Einhart will teach you the next word of Unrelenting Force."

Another Greybeard stepped forward and spoke a single word "Ro". It didn't knock anyone around, perhaps because it was spoken alone, without the preceding "Fus". It did, however, cause a glowing word to appear on the floor, so I could read, as well as hear it.

Arngeir explained that it took them years of meditation to fully understand a word of power, but the Dovahkiin could learn one in moments, absorbing that knowledge from a dying dragon, as I had with Murmulnir.

I didn't have to kill any dragons to learn "Ro", as Einhart let me tap into his own knowledge of the word. It was much the same experience, and the understanding was just as complete.

They tested me further, creating phantom targets on which to use the greater two-word shout. When Arngeir deemed my progress enough, we went outside for the next stage. He wanted to see if I could learn a completely new shout.

Master Borri taught me the first word of Whirlwind Sprint, "Wuld", in much the same way as Einhart taught me "Ro". Then I had to demonstrate that shout, too. Finally, Arngeir sent me to collect the Horn of Jurgen WIndcaller from his tomb. I suspected that this would require me to use these shouts, in a practical trial of my ability.

---

"So, Zahra, what did you think of the Greybeards," I asked her.

"I prefer them to spiders, but they're still a bit creepy," she responded. "They way they look at you, but don't say anything, apart from that Arngeir."

"That reminds me of someone else," I pointed out. "And it's because their voices are too powerful, now. They don't want to blow us off the mountain."

"Where do we have to go to get this horn? I didn't recognise the name of the place."

"It's just a bit north of Morthal, and the vampires' lair we cleared out."

"The place where the guard said there were spiders out in the swamp?"

"Yes, but they wouldn't be any bigger then the ones you killed at Shor's Stone. It's too cold up there for the larger ones. What is your problem with spiders, anyway? You aren't afraid of anything else, even when you should be."

"It goes back a long way. I've always found the spider daedra a bit disgusting. When somebody told me about them sucking the insides out of their victims, and then putting on the skin if it was prettier than the one they had, it freaked me out completely. Especially as he implied I'd be a prime target for them."

"Well he was right about you being prettier than any of the spider daedra, but they don't actually feed like that. Or change their skin," I explained. "Real spiders, the ones here on Nirn, do feed that way, because they don't have any alternative. They don't have any way to bite, or chew. All they can do is stab with their fangs."

"Spider daedra just look like them, but they're not the same thing at all. They're not women, either," I continued. "And being ... cautious ... of spider daedra is just sensible. They're a mean and unpredictable lot at the best of times."

"You're making Nirn spiders sound worse than the daedra ones," she pointed out.

"They're less intelligent, can't do magic, and they don't like fire. What have you got to be afraid of?"

"Well, put like that, nothing but my own imagination. And I can get past it if I make myself angry enough. I just don't like them, and never will."

[Acadian]

Jane the Jiggly! Oops, I mean Zahra.

Good description of how Kothet can be ‘dragonborn’ and it fits well.

Fun discussion also into Zahra’s fear of spiders and how she came by it.

[Renee]

She seemed to like that one, and I perhaps shouldn't have spoiled the mood by musing further. "Soft pink petals, overflowing with nectar ... why are you hitting me like that?"

[ghastley]

Aacadian: Not fear, disgust.

Renee:

-------------

Previously Kothet and Jane the Jiggly Zahra visited High Hrothgar and were sent to Ustengrav.

--------------

21 - Ustengrav

We had to cross the hills to get to Morthal, and at the top of one of them, we found a dragon, roosting on another of those word walls with the dragon writing. He shouted frost at us, but I fired arrows back, and Zahra threw fireballs, until we brought him down. Then my war-hammer proved mightier than his jaws.

The wall taught me "Zun", which means weapon, so now I had two words that I could unlock with the dragon's knowledge. Neither really called me to turn them into a shout right away. "Yol" would not give me any more fire damage than Zahra could produce, and one of the Kyn would not be happy taking advantage of his opponent by disarming him with a shout. Besides, the dragons are the strongest foes, and they carry no weapons.

I knew that I could wait, and use this later. There might be another word wall where we were heading, and I'd have yet another option.

---

We met the road between Morthal and Dawnstar, and it looked like we could follow it for a while before we need to cut off towards Ustengrav. We'd met frostbite spiders on this road before, but it seemed to me likely that we'd see more going through the swamps.

We passed the point where we'd previously turned off to Labyrinthian, and the pass, and instead found the small mining community of Stonehills. I had no need to stop, so we continued northward up the road. Not much further, we came across a couple of conjurers being ambushed by bandits. They were dead before we reached them, and the bandits turned on us. Stupid mortals!

We didn't find much worth taking on the bandits, and the conjurers didn't have anything better. A few ingredients, and some potions was about all. I'd expected more, as they had a horse (dead now) and a wagon, and could have been carrying quite a load.

This was about where we'd need to turn off west towards Ustengrav. I looked for a trail, but didn't find much, so I was quite surprised to find us approaching a Stormcloak camp. The guard eyed me suspiciously, but said nothing as we passed.

At the foot of the rise, I could see the ring of a nordic barrow. There was a campfire nearby, and a crude shelter, suggesting a bandit camp. Why they didn't just use the ruin itself was puzzling, but perhaps they didn't have the place to themselves. There might well be draugr inside.

The bandits, as ever, were hostile, but not for long. I noticed that Zahra was sporting a cloak of flames as she ran down the hill to engage them. That should keep the spiders away!

---

Inside, steps led down to a larger chamber under the hill, where some more of the bandits had fallen into the clutches of necromancers, who had raised them as thralls. One of the necromancers was complaining about their sluggishness as we approached. Zahra gave them more to complain about with a fireball in their midst, and I charged in with my warhammer.

We picked up a few useful potions and things, and then looked around for a way to go farther into the tomb. A side passage echoed with the sounds of fighting, so we followed it to find out what was going on.

The draugr I'd been expecting were doing battle with more of the necromancers. We let them thin each others' ranks before joining the side that was winning. Naturally the draugr were ungrateful, and we had to finish them as well.

They weren't the last of them, of course, but we didn't encounter another group of that size again. Ones and twos weren't a problem to us. Eventually we emerged into a large grotto, on a ledge overlooking the main chamber. The passage we had to follow had a fire trap, but that doesn't mean much to Dremora.

The skeletons we encountered next were a nuisance, as there were quite a few of them, all armed with bows, and they all seemed to notice us at once. After running around and eliminating them, we headed down the ramp to a word wall at the bottom, by a small pool.

The word I learned this time was "Feim", part of "Become Ethereal". I thought about this one for a while, and decided to unlock it with my dragon knowledge. I could use this to pass through traps and turn them off for Zahra. She didn't seem to be able to dodge them as well as I do, perhaps because she's a mage, rather than a fighter.

This area appeared to be a dead end, with no way to progress, so we walked back up to the middle level to look around more. There was a bridge over to another area we hadn't explored, so we crossed it, only to come under fire from another skeleton archer. His bones flew apart as one of Zahra's fireballs found its mark.

There were three small pillars rising from the floor. As I approached one, it started to glow and a gate at the end opened. I walked on to the next one, and it, too, started glowing. A second gate, behind the first, opened up. But when I continued to the third, the first gate closed again, just as the third one opened.

I backed up until the first gate opened again, but by then the third one had dropped again. It appeared that I couldn't open all three gates at once, because I couldn't stand near all three pillars. Zahra's presence didn't affect them. This was my trial, so it was all tuned to me. At least that's what I imagined. She's as real as I am, so there can't be any other explanation for it.

Walking up and down, I noticed a slight delay between the pillars' glow ceasing, and the gate closing. I might be able to run past all the pillars, and get through the gates, if I used that Whirlwind Sprint shout the Greybeards had taught me.

Of course I ran into the gates at full speed a couple of times before I got the timing right. Zahra was trying so hard not to laugh, as she sauntered through after me. Of course the gates stayed open for her after I'd done all the work.

Then we came to a large area of fire traps, the kind that blast flames up from the floor. While we resist fire well, there were just too many of these to ignore. But I noticed that they were not all a uniform shade. A quick experiment showed that the darker ones produced flames, but the paler ones didn't. I told Zahra what I'd discovered and instructed her to follow in my footsteps. Without pushing, please!

There had to be spiders, didn't there? Fortunately, she just stopped and turned on her fire cloak, instead of trying to run back. Then she hurled fireballs, even after they were dead. She's getting more composed when it's spiders, but we still have a way to go.

Naturally, she let me clear the webs off the door ahead before she was prepared to pass through it. It led into a large flooded chamber, with a path up the middle. As we entered, dragon head statues rose out of the water, with a lot of noisy grinding of stone on stone. Nothing else, though. No draugr popping out of coffins, or any of the usual stuff.

At the top of the coffin at the end of the path was a stone hand, holding up a note, rather than the horn I was expecting to find. It was addressed to me, or at least "Dragonborn", and told me to rent the attic room at the inn in Riverwood. I presumed whoever left the note had the horn now, so I had little choice but to do as it requested.

This post has been edited by ghastley: Jan 23 2017, 11:20 PM

[Acadian]

Bandits vs Necrodudes vs Druglords – Ustengrav’s an interesting place.

I like Kothet’s careful management of where he focuses his limited dragon resources.

That door/speed puzzle is hard!

’Then she hurled fireballs, even after they were dead.’ - - Buffy does the same thing when panicked.

Darn! All that work and the horn’s been stolen! I hope Kothet has some words (maybe even a warhammer) for whoever took it.


Nit: ’But I noticed that they were not all a usniform shade.’

[haute ecole rider]

It led into a large flooded chamber, with a path up the miidle. As we entered, dragon head statues rose out of the water, with a lot of noisy grinding of stone on stone. Nothing else, though. No draugr popping out of coffins, or any of the usual stuff.

You know, the first time I did this, and again a few times after that, I kept expecting a big, knockdown drag-out fight for that stupid horn, and was surprised that those dragon heads were all that was there ...

[ghastley]

I've been in England (and cut off from the internet) for a couple of weeks, so this one's a bit overdue.

Acadian: I'm not sure why they added the necromancers to that mix. It doesn't change the story at all, and just having bandits at the entrance, and draugr further in, would have worked as well. Perhaps there was cut content that made the necros relevant?

The way the gates and pillars work when you have a follower never made any sense to me, until I had the idea that it's all tuned to the dragonborn. I've done it once with two words of Whirlwind Sprint, and it's much easier then. I suspect that was the intention when it was designed.

h.e.r: That was exactly the expectations I think they they intended. However, I still want to know how Delphine barred the doors behind her on the way out.

------------

Previously: Kothet and co. went to Ustengrav for the Hprn of Jurgen Windcaller and got just a note.

-----------

22 - Blades

"So you're the one they're calling Dragonborn," the innkeeper said, as she gave me Jurgen Windcaller's horn. "Follow me down to the basement, so we can talk privately."

Once we got down there, through a secret door in the back of a wardrobe, she started to question me. "Is it true? Are you really Dragonborn? Can you kill a dragon permanently by devouring its soul?"

"Yes, I'm Dragonborn, and when I defeat a dragon, I do absorb power from it. But that's not its soul, any more than the so-called soul trap spell gathers souls from slain enemies." That was a very mortal notion. Since they don't get restored, they have this strange idea about what happens at death.

Magicka and knowledge are almost the same thing, and they get passed between generations of mortals while they're still living. You can't destroy knowledge, only forget it, and someone can always give it back to you. If your magicka and knowledge are powerful enough, like Daedric Princes, you can restore a lesser creature to life, and that's what happens for the lesser Daedra.

They don't always do it directly. The Saints and Seducers of Sheogorath have the Wellsprings (creations of the Daedric Prince of course) that do so on his behalf, and Dagon has a similar arrangement involving fire, rather than water.

But they can't create life, only restore it. The Aedra chose a dfferent path for this world, of continous creation, but permanent death. Of new growth, rather than rebuilding. The mortals are just as jealous of our lives after death, as we are of their ability to have children, but the paths are equal, if different.

I failed to convince this Delphine, even of my really being the Dragonborn. She wanted to see me defeat a dragon, and what happened after, with her own eyes. And she knew where that was likely to be possible. She told me that the dragons were being raised from their burial mounds, as she'd found them empty, and she'd seen a pattern in it that suggested the next would happen at Kynesgrove, near Windhelm.

Delphine told me that she was the last of the Blades, of whom I'd heard. They had been the bodyguards of the Emperor of Cyrodiil, back in the previous era, but had been almost wiped out by the Thalmor at the start of the Great War. She claimed that their true purpose was as dragon-slayers, but that had been put on hold when the dragons disappeared from Tamriel. Now they were back, it was time for the Blades to rise, too.

---

I agreed to meet her at Kynesgrove. Although Delphine struck me as a fanatic with a warped notion of reality, she was intimately involved with the dragon situation, and therefore probably a key to my destiny, as the Greybeards put it. I had to find the path on my own, as they'd pointed out, and she might provide me some clues.

First, however, I needed to complete my task by returning the horn to High Hrothgar. Hopefully the path up the mountain was still free of wolves, bears and trolls.

---

I mentioned Delphine and the Blades to Arngeir, and he scowled. "The Blades have always tried to turn the Dragonborn from his true path. Do not listen to her." I assured him of my skepticism, and he seemed at least partially reassured.

The Greybeards taught me the final word of Unrelenting Force, "Dah". I was then formally recognised as the Dragonborn, in a ceremony that involved a lot of shouting, mostly at me. I found I could understand what they were saying, even though it was in the dragon tongue, perhaps because I'd become a bit more dragon myself.

---

Then it was time to meet Delphine at Kynesgrove. As Zahra and I arrived in the small village, the innkeeper ran out to warn us of a dragon nearby, circling over the old mound at the top of the hill.

We went up there, and found Delphine crouched behind a rock, waiting for us. A large black dragon, one I knew, was circling overhead, as if he was waiting for us, too. He shouted at the dragon mound, which broke apart, and a skeletal dragon emerged.

As we stared in disbelief, the skeletal dragon formed new flesh and replied to the other dragon, in their language, of course. I didn't understand much, but I caught the names Alduin, and Sahloknir, which were the large black dragon, and the one he'd just raised.

Alduin addressed me directly, and accused me of arrogance, for taking the name "Dovahkiin". I hadn't taken it, it was what Murmulnir had called me, as it if was already mine.

I was not at all surprised when Alduin instructed Sahloknir to kill us, and flew off. The lesser dragon's latest life was a short one, as Zahra and I, and I have to admit Delphine too, soon put it down. As expected, The dragon taught me his knowledge as he passed, with the usual swirl of light I'd seen before. I'm sure Delphine could see it, too.

"I guess I owe you a few answers," she said.

---

Delphine didn't actually have many to give. She didn't know as much about the dragons as I'd hoped, and her conjectures seemed to be just more paranoia. She was convinced the Thalmor must have something to do with their re-appearance, as who else would benefit from it? I was tempted to say "the Blades", as they'd just regained their lost purpose, but I didn't.

I was now particularly curious about the big black dragon, Alduin. If the dragons were daedra like myself, then his ability to restore them must mean he was an avatar of a Daedric Prince, or at least the agent of one. But which? A further confusion arose from the fact that both Peryite and Akatosh are associated here with a dragon's form. One Daedric, one Aedric, and neither seemed to fit with this Alduin.

Delphine was convinced that the Thalmor knew more about the dragons, and although she didn't present a very convincing case, it was all I had to go on. I agreed to meet her later, in Riverwood. She was going to try to find a way to get me into the Thalmor Embassy to take a look around.

---

It turned out that I'd already provided her with an opening. Since I was Thane of Whiterun, that was enough to get me invited to one of Elenwen's regular parties. Delphine could get my weapons and armour smuggled in, and I could collect them once I was there. She directed me to a Bosmer agent of hers in Solitude, to give him what I would need on the inside. She could provide suitable attire for the party.

It also dawned on me that I'd need something else to wear between Solitude, and Katla's Farm, which is where I'd be picked up by the carriage. I found a spare mage robe that I'd taken, and found that I already knew its enchantment. It was bland and inconspicuous enough for this purpose.

"What do I do while you're in the Embassy?" Zahra asked.

"Keep an eye on Delphine for me. I don't completely trust her in this. It might just be a scam to get hold of my armour, or something like that."

[Acadian]

Welcome back from your trip!


"Yes, I'm Dragonborn, and when I defeat a dragon, I do absorb power from it. But that's not its soul, any more than the so-called soul trap spell gathers souls from slain enemies." That was a very mortal notion. Since they don't get restored, they have this strange idea about what happens at death.’ - - I love Kothet’s understanding of ‘soul trap’.

Likewise, I enjoyed his thoughts on the differences between Aedric and Daedric life/death.

His non-mortal ideas fed perfectly into making Delphine’s demands to see for herself. Nicely done, that.

To top it off, Kothet’s thoughts about Alduin perhaps being of the Daedra was a fascinating observation. You are getting such fabulous mileage out of Kothet’s unique perspective.


Nit: ‘The Aedra chose a dfferent path for this world, of continous creation,’ – spellingx2

[ghastley]

Acadian: You are surprisingly perceptive for a mortal. Of course Kothet's viewpoint has the weight of greater experience, so it must be the correct one.

Back to the regular schedule ...

-----------

Previously: Kothet met Delphine, and wasn't impressed. However, she was the only clue he had to the dragons/dragonborn situation.

-----------

23 - Esbern

I handed my armour, my war-hammer, and a carefully selected collection of potions to Malborn, the Wood Elf agent in the Winking Skeever. He set off for the Embassy, while I walked down to where the carriage was waiting. I changed into the more formal party gear Delphine had selected for me, and boarded the carriage.

Elenwen met me just inside the door, and she knew my name, even if she didn't know my face. I was surprised, as she must have seen me at Helgen, and I should have been conspicuous, as the only Dremora. I'd was certain that I'd seen her there, talking to Tullius as we were carted in. Like all Altmer, she was tall, slender, and quite attractive in an elven way. Which probably made her quite unattractive to the average Nord, who likes his women more ... cuddly?

Malborn interrupted us, mainly to get my attention, I think. When Elenwen wandered off back to her other guests, he asked that I should try and create a distraction, so he could sneak me into the off-limits part of the building, where my equipment was waiting.

Obviously, that distraction couldn't include me, or everyone would be looking my way. That was enough of a problem already, as most of the other Jarls and Thanes there had never seen a Dremora before, and were curiously peeking in my direction whenever they got the chance.

I had a few options. There was the Thane of Solitude, Erikur, who was apparently attracted to the Bosmer girl serving drinks, and could probably be goaded into making a nuisance of himself with her. I was reluctant to do that, however, as it might get her into trouble, too.

Most of the other choices were just as bad, but the half-drunk Redguard merchant who came in at the same time I did, a man name Razelan, looked like my best bet. I delivered him another drink, and persuaded him to stir a bit of life into the proceedings. He wasn't enjoying himself there anyway, and didn't mind getting tossed out.

After he'd managed to insult Elenwen, and most of the others, the guards all swarmed in to apprehend and eject him, blocking everyone's view of me. I took the opportunity to slip through a door behind the bar, with Malborn.

He led me through the kitchen, and I found my equipment waiting in a chest in the pantry. There was a door at the back of that, providing access from the private quarters, and my entry to the same. Malborn closed and locked the door behind me, warning me I'd be on my own.

I searched the rooms I now had access to, dealing with a few interruptions from Thalmor guards as they blundered in. I found nothing of interest, and headed out the door into the courtyard, hoping to find something in the Solar opposite. Of course, that meant dealing with more guards on the way, which I must admit, I quite enjoyed.

By the time I entered the Solar, I was wondering why I hadn't just stormed my way in to begin with. The Thalmor guards didn't put up much opposition, and it would have avoided all the masquerade of the party invitation. On the other hand, the party did keep Elenwen herself out of the way, and perhaps that's what Delphine had in mind.

In the Solar, I found Rulindil, the torturer in charge of the Thalmor dungeon, talking to a Nord informant, name Gissur. After eliminating them, I had a key to the lower floor, where I imagined I'd have a better chance of finding something useful.

There was a single Thalmor soldier guarding the cells. She didn't last long. Now I wanted to check out any containers, free any prisoners and generally disrupt things. I found a number of documents that I suspected Delphine would like to read, especially as one was about her. Another concerned Ulfric Stormcloak, but the third was on another man I'd never heard of; someone called Esbern.

Just then, some more soldiers came in at the top of the stairs, and they had Malborn with them. Before they could do anything to him, I attacked, and soon had a key to an exit that I suspected we'd quickly be needing. I freed the only prisoner I could find, and together we opened the trapdoor that led out.

It opened into a cave, and I could hear something animal-like ahead. I kept the others behind me, and it was well that I did, as it turned out to be a Frost Troll. As I struck at it, a fireball flew in from the mouth of the cave and helped put it down.

"Zahra! How did you know where I'd be?"

"Delphine mentioned that you'd be coming out here, so I was waiting outside. When I heard the troll, I came in."

"So where's Delphine, now?"

"She went back to Riverwood. You need to collect the rest of your gear there, at the Sleeping Giant. She took it all with her."

Malborn and the prisoner, a Breton named Etienne Rarnis, ran off in different directions. While Etienne had thanked me profusely, Malborn was complaining that he'd be a fugitive for the rest of his life. As if he hadn't anything to do with that situation.

---

Since I had my armour, and a change of clothing, even if it was a bit ostentatious, I didn't desperately need to go there right away. I re-read the dossier on Ulfric, and wondered if there was enough material here to extract a bit of gold from him. It did imply that he'd been quite informative, when he was their prisoner, and I suspected that Elenwen had a hand in that. Or some other part of her body.

Delphine would, I'm sure, be quite pleased with hers. It made her look much more important than I suspected she really was. But the one on Esbern was intriguing. The Thalmor clearly believed he was the key to knowledge of the new dragon situation, and had made him their highest priority. Perhaps he should also be mine?

The dossier mentioned Riften, but that wasn't very precise. Since Delphine was one of the Blades, perhaps she'd have a better idea where in Riften to start looking for him. I'd better go to Riverwood next, after all.

---

Delphine was surprised to discover that Esbern was still alive. She'd thought herself the sole survivor of the Blades. As for finding him, she told me that he'd most likely be in the Ratway, which is where the Thieves' Guild headquarters were. Anyone who wanted to hide would be down there. She gave me the impression that there was as much of the city down there as there was on the surface, so it didn't narrow my search much.

In Riften the entrance to the Ratway wasn't hard to find, but I imagined we were entering a hostile labyrinth, and the rest of the hunt wouldn't be easy. Getting attacked by a couple of low-lifes in the first tunnel just confirmed that.

There was a raised drawbridge blocking our way just a little further in, and we needed to jump down and find a way around it. Presumably a Thieves Guild member would be able to lower that drawbridge, or maybe there was another entrance somewhere that they used. I just hoped that it all connected together, and we weren't in the wrong part.

We encountered less skeevers than I'd expected, but that was mainly because they had low-lifes preying on them, and an abundance of traps. It all made progress slow and tedious. Eventually, however, we reached the Ragged Flagon, which seemed to be a Guild-run tavern, although they were unconcerned that we weren't members. Presumably just getting here was enough. A door at the back led further into the tunnels.

It wasn't long before we encountered some Thalmor soldiers, who were also looking for Esbern. That made sense, as we already knew that the Thalmor suspected he was in Riften, and they wouldn't have found him up in town. Why they attacked us wasn't as clear, but they did, so they died.

---

We finally came across a door that had multiple bars, and locks, and seemed more like a fortress than a beggar's cell. This was probably where Esbern lived. I knocked, and a voice told me to go away. I asked the voice if he was Esbern, and he denied it, of course. So I mentioned the 30th of Frostfall, and Delphine, and that changed his mind.

Once we were inside his little home, he explained that it was the date the Great War started, and he and Delphine had been at Cloud Ruler Temple, in Cyrodiil at the time. The two of them had separated, and had been on the run from the Thalmor ever since. When the Dragons re-appeared, he'd seen that it was futile to continue, and retreated down here.

"Why futile?"

"Because this is the beginning of the end-times. Without a dragonborn, there's no way to stop Alduin, and the world will inevitably come to an end."

"But I'm dragonborn, or at least the Greybeards tell me I am. I find it hard to believe, being a Dremora, but they assure me it's possible."

"Well, this changes everything. You need to take me to Delphine immediately. Or at least, once I've gathered what I need for the journey. Just a moment." He started to hunt around his cell, stuffing various items into his pockets.

"I think that's all," he said, "Let's go!"

Almost as soon as we went out the door, we ran into another group of Thalmor. The mage among them summoned a flame atronach, and I smiled at the poor choice. To add to their woes, Esbern countered with a frost atronach of his own. This man wasn't the frightened rat I had taken him for.

Esbern also knew all the shortcuts to get out quickly, dropping down grates in the floor, and ducking down side-passages that I wouldn't have considered. Soon we were standing back outside the Ratway entrance in Riften.

I decided to take the carriage to Whiterun, and walk to Riverwood from there. The carriages never seem to get attacked, and the road from Whiterun to Riverwood was about as safe as any. I'd cleared most of the area around it myself.

This post has been edited by ghastley: Mar 23 2017, 09:53 PM

[Acadian]

Kothet is making some fine progress in the main quest. He’s further along now than Buffy was ever interested in going.

Buffy can verify that most Nords don’t consider elves good breeding stock. Slender hips, small teats, can only produce a tiny number of runty little knife-eared young. . . . Nords do seem to want ‘sturdy’ women who can birth lots of big bearded baby boys.

Kothet’s Dremoran observations continue to delight due to their interesting perspective.

Very neat how Zahra the Jiggly was right there when he needed her.

[Renee]

The passage we had to follow had a fire trap, but that doesn't mean much to Dremora.

I've fallen behind on Kothet's story 'cause of the holidays but I enjoy bits like the one above. Lots of subtle humor in this! The part when he runs into the gates at full speed had me lol'ing! I've probably had a character in the past who did the same thing.

A lot of insight in the second part I'd missed (with Alduin and Delphine Jend).

This post has been edited by Renee: Jan 6 2017, 01:48 AM

[ghastley]

Acadian: I'm playing Morrowind at the moment, and there's a quest where the leader of an Ashlander tribe wants a high-born Telvanni bride, with just those features. I was tempted to create a mod to substitute a Nord. Kothet's not into breeding, but he likes his women robust for other reasons.

Renee: Kothet's just being Dremora again. He likes to point out where the Kyn are superior to the ordinary folk.

--------------

Previously Kothet had found Esbern in the Ratway in Riften, and escorted him back to Riverwood.

--------------

24 - Dragons

In the secret basement of the Sleeping Giant, Esbern pulled out a copy of an old book, that detailed the activities of the ancient Akaviri dragon-hunters. He told us that everything they knew about Alduin had been recorded on "Alduin's Wall" which was in a place called Sky Haven Temple.

Delphine and he compared notes, and she decided that his description matched what she knew of the Karthspire, a Forsworn citadel in the Reach. "We can go there together, or split up. I'll make sure Esbern gets there, if you want to travel separately. That might be better, as would attract less attention from the Thalmor."

We'd already been in the area, but hadn't taken that fork in the road. I also wanted to go back to the Tower, and drop off some surplus supplies, maybe make a few more potions for the battle against the Forsworn - I just knew that they wouldn't be friendly and let us through.
---
"Kothet, what are you expecting to find at Alduin's Wall?" Zahra asked me.

"I don't have any idea, but if it gives me any more information about Alduin and the other dragons, it has to be useful. I don't trust these Blades any more than you do, but they're on our side at the moment, so I'm going along with them."

"Even though it means fighting more Forsworn? I though you were getting tired of that."

"You'd prefer that I'd find some more spiders?"

She gave me that look.

---

Actually, the one good thing about the Forsworn is that they generally don't keep spiders as pets. And I do enjoy combat, wherever I can find it. Even if a dragon gets involved, as it did this time.

We were just crossing the bridge that led to the Karth Valley, when it attacked from the mountains behind us. After blasting frost at us, it moved on to attacking someone else, a bit further up the road. That turned out to be Delphine and Esbern. When we united against it, it flew on a bit further, and attacked the Forsworn, instead.

That was helpful, and we stopped to let it do our work for us. However, it wasn't long before it landed on the hills above the camp to recover. The Forsworn turned their attention to us, and we'd have to fight through them to reach either the dragon, or the cave we were seeking.

I could have ignored it, but Delphine insisted that we deal with the dragon. Once the Forsworn were dealt with, we discovered a hagraven between us and the place it had landed. Since the dragon didn't appear to want to get involved, we had to deal with her to get to it. As usual, she attacked with fireballs, and our fire resistance was decisive. The dragon, however, was breathing frost, and was now finally stomping in our direction as he did so.

By this time, however, Esbern had caught up to us, and was contributing his frost atronach to the fray. That creature is immune to frost, of course, and so was able to ignore the dragon's shouts. Zahra switched to firebolts, so that she could be more accurate at the expense of power, and I waded in with my war hammer.
With another dragon's knowledge gathered, we could now turn around and look for the cave entrance.

Naturally, it was all the way over at the far side of the camp, on the other side of the valley. And there were more of the Forsworn inside. They can't have been able to hear the commotion outside, or we'd have dealt with them earlier.

Past that entrance chamber, however, we were on our own. The only things left were puzzles and traps, left by the Blades to ensure only their people could pass.

Esbern recalled the symbols on the pillars at the first puzzle, and explained their meanings to me. The one meaning "dragonborn" would be the obvious key, so I turned the pillars to all show that symbol, and a drawbridge lowered to allow us further in.

In the room we reached next, the floor was covered in tiles with the same symbols. Something about them reminded me of the flame traps I'd seen in other ruins, so perhaps it would only be safe to tread on some of them. A quick tap of my foot on the first one with the dragonborn symbol seemed to confirm they were safe, so I told the others to stay where they were and set off across the room, being careful to step only on those.

The path didn't lead to the exit, but there was a pull-chain on the pillar where it did end. I pulled it, and stepped on another tile, this one with a different symbol. Nothing happened, so either I'd just disarmed the trap, or there never was one. Whichever was the case, we could all walk through safely, now.

The chamber we entered next was larger than the others, and a large stone head stood on the opposite side, beyond a strange spiral pattern on the floor. Esbern told me the face was that of Reman Cyrodiil, and the spiral was a blood seal, and my blood was the key to opening it. Just a little of it, not all of it, he assured me.

A few drops from a cut finger was all it wanted, and the stone head revealed itself to be a door. It swung up out of the way, and we could see stairs in the passage behind it.

---

Delphine and Esbern spent some time lighting the braziers with their torches, and soon there was enough light to see the wall we'd come here for. A huge bas-relief, depicting dragons and soldiers, and with symbols in a strange language among them. They didn't look like the dragon language I'd seen on the word walls, but Esbern told me that they were Akaviri, and he had some knowledge of that tongue.

I found out from what Esbern read, and things he already knew, that the dragons had not been united in the past. In the dragon wars depicted on the wall, there was an Atmoran faction, known as the Dragon Cult, who had joined one of the sides, and revered "their" dragons as avatars of Akatosh. Mostly, of course, they were just using the dragon conflict to advance their own mortal interests, and seize power on the newly-settled Tamriel.

The group of Nords that rebelled against the tyranny of the Dragon Cult also had dragons on their side, and learned the use of the Thu'um from them. The wall showed them shouting against Alduin, and apparently defeating him. But since he was now back in Skyrim, it was apparently not permanent. The wall also didn't give any indication what shout was involved.

Without Alduin, the dragon war had ended, with the Blades hunting down the dragons remaining. That part didn't make sense to me, as some of them were also depicted as allies earlier. But the Blades were Akaviri, not Nords, and presumably advancing their own agendas while they had the chance.

This fit in with what I already knew. If Alduin was the only one capable of restoring a fallen dragon, then without him, they'd be easily eliminated.

---

Since nobody knew what shout had been used against Alduin, it appeared that I'd need to go back to High Hrothgar to start my investigation. Nobody knows more about shouts than the Greybeards. Delphine seemed very reluctant to ask them for help, but my opinions and hers don't have much in common.

Arngeir reluctantly decided that this was all now beyond him, and I'd need to talk to Paarthurnax to progress any further. He was the leader of the Greybeards, and lived in solitude on the very top of the mountain. The path up was impassable to any without the right shout to dissipate the freezing winds that blew across it.

They could teach me that shout, because I was the dragonborn, and so capable of learning it, but that was the last they'd be able to do for me. Anything further would have to come from Paarthurnax.

I was surprised to encounter goats along the way, but it seemed that they were as vulnerable to the cross-winds as any other creature. They just had the ability to climb up the slopes, and weren't confined to the path as I was. And there were Ice Wraiths, that lived in the areas between the "wind traps" and preyed on the goats.

When Paarthurnax turned out to be a dragon, I wasn't entirely surprised. I knew from Alduin's wall that the dragons weren't all on the same side, but he explained that the dragons of that time didn't really have any affinities with each other, apart from temporary alliances to gain a transient advantage. Each dragon was out to establish its own place in the pecking order, and Alduin had held most of the cards. He was the "eldest" - first-formed - and moved swiftly to consolidate his position above the others.

The humans - joor in the dragon language - were the ones that banded together in their struggles. The Nords that opposed the Dragon Cult (allied to Alduin) had turned to him for assistance. He'd taught them the Thu'um, to put them on an equal footing with the others, and they'd developed a new shout to use against Alduin.

"Can you teach me that shout?" I asked.

"Krosis. Apologies. I cannot teach you that shout, because it is not known to me. It cannot be known to me, because the concepts it holds are inimical to dragons, and that is why it can only be used against them, and not by them. The mortals devised it to use against Alduin, and it has not been heard since."

"Then how can I possibly learn it? It seems that I will need it, or Alduin will be victorious, and the world will come to an end."

"Is that necessarily a bad thing? Is this world not just the egg of the next Kalpa? Perhaps the world must end, so that the next may come to pass."

"I have reason to like this world the way it is," I told him, glancing over at Zahra. "The next world will have to take care of itself."

"A valid reason," Paarthunax concurred. "There is a way you might learn that shout. The humans used an Elder Scroll to cast Alduin adrift on the winds of time. Time itself was broken by that act. That happened here, on this mountain, and that is why I have been waiting here for his return. I believe that if you were to read that same scroll here, at the Time Wound, then you might be taken back to that time, and learn the shout from those who first used it."

Paarthurnax couldn't help me find an Elder Scroll, either, but he did suggest that mages at the College of Winterhold would be the ones to ask. Esbern might also have clues from his study of the history of the Dragon Cult, although knowing where it had been in the past might not be helpful in the present.

[Acadian]

’Actually, the one good thing about the Forsworn is that they generally don't keep spiders as pets.’ - -

This is great fun seeing the main quest play out since Buffy was never Dragonborn.

[ghastley]

Previously: Kopthet has found Alduin's Wall, and discussed the implications with Paarthurnax. Now he finds he needs an Elder Scroll...

-----------

25 - College of Winterhold

"Why are you chasing around after this Alduin?" Zahra asked me. "Is it just because the Nords are all in a panic about the end-times?'

"Well, I assume there's fire behind that smoke. Legends are usually based on facts, even if they have got half of it wrong. But mostly it's because Jarl Balgruuf asked me to do so, ... and because that's why the Kyn gave me the spell to summon you."

"So we're headed for the College of Winterhold next?"

"Yes, I'd ask Esbern, but he seems to have the same illusions that Delphine has about needing to eliminate all Dragons. It's the way he was trained, and he knows no better, but it clouds his judgement."

"What about the Greybeards?"

"They have little contact with the rest of the world. How would they know where to find anything? The College is supposed to have a major library, and they might even have the scroll itself."

---

When we reached Winterhold, we found a senior mage waiting at the entrance, to screen potential applicants to the College. She wanted me to summon a Flame Atronach as proof that I had the skills of a mage. I pointed at Zahra. "I summoned her, and she's better than an Atronach." Zahra proved my point by turning on her flame cloak, and Faralda laughed.

"I think that qualifies both of you," she agreed, and admitted us both. "Report to Mirabelle Ervine when you reach the courtyard."

Mirabelle was certain that they didn't have any Elder Scrolls at the College. "But ask Tolfdir, the senior lecturer. He's just starting a new class in the Hall of Elements, and you might find that useful, too."

I assisted Tolfdir with a demonstration of wards, and then asked him about Elder Scrolls. He confirmed what Mirabelle had told me, that there were none at the College. "But we're all on our way to the excavation at Saarthal. That's just started, and there's no telling what it will turn up. Perhaps even the scroll you seek. Why don't you join us?"

---

At Saarthal, Tolfdir had us each search a section of the site for magical artifacts. The only one who found anything was a timid young Dunmer named Brelyna, and she found more than she was expecting, when a gate closed behind her, trapping her in a small section. Her shriek of surprise brought the rest of us running.
Tolfdir asked her what had happened.

"I pulled an amulet off the wall, and the gate closed behind me."

"Then perhaps the amulet is the key to opening it again," he suggested. "Put it on, and see what you can do with it."

Brelyna did so, and when she cast a flame spell at the place where she'd taken the amulet, the wall collapsed, revealing a passage. At the same time the gate opened, admitting the rest of us.

Tolfdir led the way into the passage with Brelyna following, and Zahra and I close behind. The other students stayed where they were, reluctant to risk the unknown.

We emerged into a small chamber, and a flash of light. "Did you see that?" Brelyna asked us.

"The flash of light?" I asked.

"No, the Psijic monk that just spoke to me. He said something about danger ahead, and the Psijics watching me."

"When did all that happen?" Zahra asked her .

Brelyna thought a moment. "I did notice that you all appeared to be frozen while the monk was speaking to me. He must have stopped time for you, which is why you didn't see anything but the flash."

Tolfdir decided that we ought to continue, and we could discuss the Psijic intervention later, back at the college. This section of the ruin had been sealed for some time, so there would likely be draugr in it, and we should all be careful. The moment he finished saying it, a coffin lid fell and a draugr stepped out to attack us. We encountered several more as we proceeded, and the source appeared to be a chamber with a remarkable number of coffins stacked up as far as we could see.

Tolfdir wanted to stay and examine the chamber, but urged the three of us to continue, and try and find out where it all led. "And the way out again, I hope," Brelyna added.

There were traps, and puzzle doors, which Brelyna appeared to be quite adept at solving. There were draugr to battle, which suited me better, as a big daedric hammer works well against ancient bones.

Tolfdir caught up with us just as we were about to open a large wooden door. Brelyna did so, to reveal a glow coming from the middle of a large chamber below us. As we got closer we could see that it came from a huge magical orb floating just above the floor. It appeared to be guarded by a draugr, who rose from his seat as we approached. I stepped forward to deal with him, but my blows had no effect at all!

Magic from my mage companions was equally ineffective, until Tofdir had the idea of turning his spells on the orb. Using a shock spell seemed to drain power from it, just as it would from a living mage, and the draugr's protection was gone.

He didn't last long under a barrage from the rest of us, and Brelyna got another amulet from him when he fell.

"I'll stay and guard this orb," Tolfdir decided. " You go back to the College, and notify the Arch-mage. This is something he'll probably want to examine personally. Quickly, now. This is important, even if we know exactly what it is."

There was a door behind the orb, and we went through it, rather than retrace our steps. It was a long way back the way we'd come, and there was the hope this would be quicker. The passage led to a word wall, and a chest. I learned a word of "Ice form" and we got a bit of miscellaneous treasure from the chest. No Elder Scrolls, though.

---

Brelyna reported our discovery to the Arch-mage, who set off for Saarthal, and directed us to the librarian, Urag gro-Shug, for anything he could dig up about Saarthal's past.

Urag didn't have anything. "Not any more, after Orthorn ran off with those books. If you want to get them back, you'll have to go find him."

We asked about Elder Scrolls. "If I had one, it would be locked away, but I don't. I do have a couple of books about the Elder Scrolls that you can look at. They may be of some help."

The two books he brought us weren't very helpful. One just described the effects of them on the reader, and the other was incomprehensible. I remarked on that to Urag, and he laughed.

"Yes, that one was written by Septimus Signus. Not many people can make any sense of his work. He's the main authority on the Elder Scrolls, or he's completely insane. Nobody's quite sure which. You can ask him yourselves, if you can find him. He went off north a while ago, looking for something, and we haven't seen him since."

Brelyna went to look for Orthorn, and we went looking for Septimus.

[Acadian]

Nice observations from Kothet on the Blades vs Graybeards vs College.

I loved how you adjusted the early College entry and questing to suit your purposes. Giving the 'lead' role to Bre at Saarthal was a grand idea.

[Renee]

I notice this too, how Brel stole the show in your game.

Kothet seems to be taking it all in stride though. He seems to be quite a patient dremora. Not that he should be impatient with Brelyna, but he's patient with tracking down an Elder Scroll.

I had a bunch of half-dreams with Kothet in them. No real plots in any of them, but my subconscious mind kept scrolling over him for some reason. In my dream though, he was an American from coal-mining country (Kentucky, West Virginia...) and wore big boots. He drove a dirty old black Trans Am too. Weird.

This post has been edited by Renee: Jan 18 2017, 11:40 PM

[ghastley]

Acadian: Brelyna is the obvious choice, because she's the only one there for the education, and she's already at Apprentice level, while her colleagues are just Novices.

Renee: Kothet may end up wearing big boots, but there is no black Trans Am in his game.

--------------

Previously: Kothet and Zahra and looking for an Elder Scroll. Their search started at the College of Winterhold, which has its own issues. They left Brelyna to deal with those.

--------------

26 - Septimus

I think Brelyna made the better choice. Septimus' outpost was on an island in the middle of the ice, well off the coast, and it was quite an unpleasant trip for those who prefer the heat to the cold. And Septimus himself was quite as obtuse as his writings. He'd found a Dwemer lock-box that he was convinced held the heart of Lorkhan, but he couldn't open it. We had to wait for him to finish rambling about that before we could bring up the subject of Elder Scrolls

We were able discover that he knew the location of an Elder Scroll, deep under Skyrim in an area he called Blackreach, a huge cavern you could only get to through the Dwarven ruins. And then only if you had the key, which Septimus could provide if we did a task for him at the same time. He wanted the Dwemer knowledge from the ruin that contained the scroll, and gave us a cube to record it. He said it would allow him to open the Dwemer lock-box.

---

"If Septimus knows where the scroll is, and he needs its knowledge to open the lock-box, why doesn't he fetch it himself?" Zahra wanted to know.

"Because it will be guarded by the Dwemer automata, and you know how magic-resistant they are. He needed someone like me to do the job for him. And I expect only mages from the college know how to find him, so I'm the first to turn up."

We weren't sure where Alftand, the Dwemer ruin Septimus had told us was the closest, actually was. We wandered around the coastal area a bit and headed inland when we got the chance. The valley led not to a Dwemer ruin, but a word wall with a resident dragon. At the foot of Mount Anthor, I learned a second word of Ice Form.

Except that "Slen" wasn't just the second word of Ice Form, it was also the first word of the shout that Alduin had used to restore Sahloknir at the burial mound above Kynesgrove. That was "Slen Tiid Vo" if I recalled it correctly. The other two words were still without any meaning to me, but now I knew that "Slen" meant "flesh", even if that wasn't all I needed to know about the word before I could shout it.

This was something I needed to discuss with Paarthurnax. If all the words were going to be on word walls for me to find, did he have any clues where I should go? And what other shouts would I need?

I'm sure Angeir would have reminded me that finding out my destination was part of finding the path. I didn't really know yet what I was trying to achieve. I'd got started on all this because I'd made a promise to Jarl Balgruuf, and the Kyn keep their word, but it had all grown beyond any reasonable expectations.

No, that wasn't the real start. That was when Alduin interrupted the Legion's executioner. Without that, it all would have taken a different course. I had become inextricably linked to that dragon, and I needed to find out why.

And I must admit, it was a change to have someone other than Mehrunes Dagon steering my life. Serving the Lord of Chaos does make for a confusing existence, and I much preferred this, even if I wasn't sure what this was. And a large part of my preference for this was Zahra, naturally.

---

We found Alftand at last. The surface buildings were a bit scattered, and the entrance to the underground part appeared to be through an excavation that wasn't actually part of the Dwemer buildings. Presumably the original entrance was now buried under the ice.

Apart from an encounter with a skooma-addicted Khajiit near the entrance, Alftand was just another Dwemer ruin, like Nchuand-zel or Avanchnzel, except the latter had no Falmer to deal with. This one had plenty, and the usual complement of spiders, spheres, and at least one centurion. The expedition before us had apparently dealt with one already. At the end, however, we encountered the last two members of that expedition, engaged in a fight over something. When the woman emerged victorious, she decided to turn on us, even before we'd hailed her. Not a very bright decision.

We presumed that the fight had been about where to go next. It appeared that there was a lift out of the ruin, and a mechanism in the middle of the room with a receptacle for the spherical key that Septimus had given us. The dead woman didn't have one, so I can only assume they intended to try and force the mechanism open.

It wasn't exactly clear how it would open, and whether it involved any of the traps the Dwemer seemed to like. I told Zahra to stand well back while I placed the sphere into the receptacle.

Not exactly a trap, but the floor around the "lock" did fall away when I did that. It actually dropped to form a staircase down to a lower level, but if you were standing in the wrong place, it wouldn't have been good for you.

We went down to a short corridor, and a door that led out into a huge cavernous underground city. This was presumably the "Blackreach" that Septimus had told us about. Mzark was just one of its towers, and we needed to find the right one.

We had to deal with a Dwarven Sphere, and a Falmer, almost as soon as we emerged. Rather than wander around just hoping to find the tower, I decided to check the nearest building, in case the place was inhabited, and we could ask for directions.

I was almost right. The place had been inhabited, but the alchemist Sinderion was long dead, and we found his skeleton on the floor. The number of dwarven arrows lying among the bones told me how he died. We knew his name, and his trade, from the journal we found, still clutched in his skeletal hand. There were ingredients all over the place, including some growing in containers. The Crimson Nirnroot was the focus of his studies, and the journal suggested that it grew only down here in Blackreach.

"Someone should follow up on that research, but it won't be us," I announced. "I'll take the journal with us, at least."

Zahra had found some other books. "Read this one, it will teach you something about alchemy," she told me, handing me a copy of De Rerum Dirennis. I did make use of the extra knowledge to turn some of the ingredients into useful potions before we left.

What I hadn't found, but wanted, was a map, or at least directions to Mzark. I cheered myself a little by reflecting that if Sinderion didn't have one, perhaps he didn't need one, and this place wouldn't turn out to be too big.

When we came back out of the building, I picked a direction to explore almost at random. We'd follow the roads, on the assumption that they'd lead to towers and other buildings, rather than Falmer camps.

Almost immediately, we found the entrance to a lift back to the surface. It was barred by spears, that retracted when I pushed a button on a plinth outside. There was no sign of any similar mechanism inside the lift itself, so you could come down and find yourself with no way out except back up to the top. If we found any more of these, it would be a good idea to open them.

Mzark was naturally on the other side of the cavern from where we entered. We were attacked by Dwemer automata, and Falmer, and their chaurus pets, but not in large enough groups to cause us major issues. There was a giant down here, too, but we just avoided him, and nothing happened.

The tower, when we finally found it, was a bit of an anti-climax. There were no defenders to battle through, just a ramp up around a huge spherical room that contained some complex Dwemer contraption with multiple buttons and a lexicon pedestal. The latter was the simple part, so we put the cube Septimus had given us into it, and two of the buttons opened and started to glow.

[Acadian]

I enjoyed Kothet’s musings about ‘the meaning of life’ and ‘why am I doing this?’ type questions as he and Zahra the Jiggly searched for Alftand. As ever, he brings a unique perspective to things.

Poor Sinderion.

Blackreach is so easy to get lost in and the in game map doesn’t help much.